


A Not-So-Romeo-and-Juliet Conflict

by orphan_account



Category: Defiance (TV)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-01-12 19:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1196622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was a Castithan.  She was an Irathient.  He was a rich daddy's boy.  She was an angry rogue.  Neither felt the need to define whatever they had with one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Defense and "Jackson"

Defense

They had never really spoken with each other much before; sure they shared the occasional stare of recognition, but never a verbal conversation. His father was, after all, Datak Tarr, arguably the number one enemy of her own dad.

This is why she was more than a tad surprised when Alak had asked her to teach him how to fight. At first, she had blankly stared at him (understandably), steel in her gaze for a moment, and then she was able to pick it out. The stench of despair and haplessness radiated from his body. A distinctly dampened vulnerability lingered in his icy eyes: it was over with the human.

Irisa knew this feeling of emotional defenseless all too well; the constant fear of trusting people could become suffocating. So she surprised everyone that day, just as much as he did by asking for her aid in the first place. She decided to help the guy out. And with that, the intense training had begun and continued until his skills were rivaled only by her own (and Nolan’s, but Alak would never concede to that if asked). It wasn’t until later, when they were sitting together at the top of the arch, did she realize how blurred their relationship had truly become. She had worked so hard to make him physically impenetrable, but it was all in vain. She had infiltrated his heart, leaving a gaping weakness in her wake, and, even worse, he had done the same to her.

“Jackson”

The room was utterly silent with the exception of the low rumbling of a timeworn human rock record swirling through the air. The singer’s voice was deep and husky, almost unsettling to Irisa. The singing was haunting, and reeked of the past. Alak’s enthusiastic voice suddenly interrupted her musings, indicating that it was time for a new song. She inwardly smiled at his sudden immaturity as soon as he entered the ark while she stood. Pacing around the room, she began to flip through a few of Alak’s records until her eyes caught on a familiar one. A warm feeling exploded in her chest, and she allowed a small smile to taint her face as she stared at it.

Alak’s voice interrupted her thoughts once again, “Hey; I’m starving. Do you think you could go grab something for me from down there?”

She nodded and temporarily left the arch, not sparing the record another thought. A few days later, Irisa was sitting in the lawkeeper’s office, bored out of her mind, listening to Raider Radio as her eyes occasionally shifted to the random prisoner she was supposed to be watching. Alak had been playing some obnoxious Castithan music all day, and she was seriously considering marching down to smack some sense into him. Just as the impatient Irathient was completely ready to do exactly that, the familiar tone of “Jackson” slithered into her ears.

Alak’s eager voice soon followed, “This one’s by an old-time human singer. Playing it for a friend.”


	2. Chapter 2

Denial 

Irisa had never shed a tear in her life uselessly, and she would not do so now. If she cried now then her tears would be the most pointless ones that had ever fallen from anyone’s eyes, and she would never shame herself that way.

There was no point in crying because Alak was still alive.

A soft knock rang on her door, but she didn’t even bother responding. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, not unless they had glistening white hair, and detached lilac eyes.

Nolan cautiously moved into the room, eyes examining his redhead daughter. It pained his heart to see her so dejected and confused, slouched against the side of her bed and hands resting limply against the ground.

He kept his voice soft as he continued to stare at her, “I can help you move his stuff.”

She didn’t even flinch, “He’s coming back.”

The regret remained unvoiced between the two.

Cards

Irisa had never touched a single deck of cards in her life. In the past, she had left the gambling to Nolan while she snuck away and stole a few things from the drunken bastards that surrounded them in the bars. Her father usually ended up losing terribly in the end anyways so it became survival instinct for her not to be around while he was busy with the games. So when she saw the deck of cards sitting on a table in the NeedWant, she couldn’t quite stop herself from staring at them with curiosity dancing behind her hazel eyes.

Of course, Alak had noticed and immediately asked her if she wanted to play something. The Irathient immediately averted her eyes and stared at the ground furiously, attempting to hide her embarrassment from her table partner. Her uncharacteristically shy actions did not go unnoticed by Alak (they rarely ever did), and he softly smiled.

“You know, it’s better to learn when you’re not actually playing for anything.”

Irisa continued to look away from the the young Castithan moodily, and mumbled something rude under her breath. Alak simply continued smiling and dealt a hand of cards out, all the while staring at Irisa’s childishly sulking face. When he was done, the girl beside him still failed to react. Gently, he reached his hand forward and grabbed Irisa’s, fondly dragging it onto the cards.

Irisa’s eyes immediately flew towards his face, and her breath caught for a moment. His eyes were so honest and kind while his soft hands continued to hold onto hers. Irisa barely contained the smile that threatened to grace her lips and instead chose to begrudgingly snatch the cards into her grasp; yet the feeling of utter joy would not leave her gut. This was the first, and probably only truly loving memory she had of Alak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's having a great summer! :)


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